


Old Light Head

by RiYuYami



Series: Pulling Strings [29]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: CHAPTER FOUR SPOILERS, Character Death, Gen, Return of a character who we weren't sure if he would return
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-03 10:43:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14567286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiYuYami/pseuds/RiYuYami
Summary: Summery: Henry can clearly say he wasn’t expecting any of the things he has seen while wandering into level S, but the biggest thing he hadn’t expected, or wanted to see was this...Norman Polk… was still alive…





	Old Light Head

**Author's Note:**

> I want to be super mad about chapter four bringing Norman back, but I’m not cause holy shit, this is gonna royally fuck up Henry and “Bendy” in this au.
> 
> So let’s go nuts!
> 
> Warning: character death (or is it?)
> 
> The title of this fanfic comes from the song that plays when Henry encounters Norman in the maintenance room in chapter four. 
> 
> On with the fic!

Finally, Henry could enter the last of the four rooms to get to the last power switch. This was tedious and annoying, but considering “Alice” was involved, he should have expected this. The doors to the maintenance area opened and the old animator was a bit surprised to see writing on the wall that was ominous, yet… confusing.

“’Choo-choo?’ Oh great, what am I gonna deal with now?” He asked no one, unless if that Lost One in the room was listening, but they continued to be out to lunch, so it was highly unlikely. He walked down the hall, hearing the door shut behind him, like the doors had been doing. Sighing, he continued on, ignoring the writing on the walls, and the fact that this was getting ridiculous.

Henry was tired, sore, and very pissed off. He just wanted to find Boris and get the hell out of here, but “Alice” just kept making things difficult. What did he even do to her? It had to be more than just him hanging out with Boris, she knew his name, knew who he was, what was going on here? He came to a stop when he spotted a Little Miracle Station, frowning deeply.

He’s seen several of them around this area, and he hasn’t used a single one of them. He only ran into “Bendy” once, which was a strange experience, and had only really battled one, strange monster since he woke up. Maybe he should count his blessings, so far he hasn’t died. Oh, Henry got the shit beat out of him against that strange Bertrum thing, but… well… he weirdly feels alright? Like he has just took a tumble down a flight of stairs instead of being sideswiped thirty feet into a wall.

Splashing caught his attention, and the human turned sharply, seeing that there was a flight of stairs behind him, descending into a large pool of ink. He watched silently as a moving light came into view, and Henry felt a horrible wave of fear and dread hit him.

The Projectionist, Norman, the man that Henry had _killed_ hours ago to release the once-human from his painful existence…

Was alive and walking around.

Henry dropped to his knees, feeling sick, and terrified. How… how was this possible?! _He killed Norman!_ The old projectionist had begged him for death, and Henry had used the axe on him to do it, to end his suffering..!

But here he was, walking around in the ink once more, as if Henry did nothing…

His breathing increased, and he felt so ill. He coughed and gagged on his own spit as he tried to calm himself down, no, no… he knew… he knew that death here isn’t one hundred percent here. Hell, he’s come back from death, twice! But he suspected that “Bendy” had a hand in this. Did the Ink Demon…? No, why would he bring back Norman? What purpose did he have for him?

“Alice”? Did she do it?

Possibly, to mess with Henry! She could always see him somehow, so it was possible she did something to return him to life! His body hadn’t dissolved like those of the Searchers of the Butcher Gang members Henry had fought, so it’s possible she had done something to his body. She seemed to enjoy experimenting, and he had a feeling that she had originally expected him to die down there so… did she bring Norman back to finish the job?

The feeling of dread was quickly replaced with anger. Just another reason to end the angel…

Carefully, Henry made his way down the steps, peeking around the corner of the entrance way to see Norman walking off, having no idea he was there. Henry knew that the other recognized him before, but there was a chance he might not this time? It didn’t help that Henry looked like a mess, he probably wouldn’t even be able to recognize himself after all that’s happened in such a short amount of time.

He knew Norman couldn’t hear, so he didn’t have to be quiet as he trudged through the cold ink. There were two, large trains in this room, along with a second floor above him. From what he could see ahead of him, the stairway to the upper level was blocked off, and he had a strong feeling, from previous experience, that it led to the last switch. He looked around one of the trains, seeing that Norman was still walking around.

And there, on the wall, was a switch. He glanced behind him at the stairs, seeing that the thing blocking it was a lift with sandbags and such on it. Looks like he was gonna have to flip the switch when Norman was out of sight. Before he was to move over in that direction, something caught Henry’s attention.

A recorder.

Quickly, Henry approached, seeing the name JOEY DREW etched into it. Maybe that fool had some answers for what happened here, or at least of what became of him.

_"I believe there's something special in all of us. With true inner strength, you can conquer even your biggest challenges. You just have to believe in yourself and remain honest, motivated, and above all, who you really are._

_Ok, let's stop it right there. I can only do so many takes of this trash a day. And tell the guys in writing I want more use of the word dreaming in every message. Keep railing on that, get it? Dreaming! Dreaming! Dreaming! People just eat up that kind of slop. Hmm What? It's still on? Well, turn it off, damn it!"_

Henry snorted, uhg, there’s the Joey Drew he knew from his childhood and from working at this place. The man of a thousand faces, the man who could wrap you around his pinkie with his charm but stab you in the back with his real feelings.

He knew that Drew didn’t believe any of his own bullshit, he just knew people would fall for it.

Setting the tape down, Henry continued to walk through the ink until he got to the lever, and he pulled it down. He heard the lift activate, and then the horrible scream of Norman. The light of the other’s projector was suddenly on him, and the animator ran for the stairs.

Why was Norman chasing him?! Norman knew who he was still, right?! Or did “Alice” turn him into a mindless creature this time around?

He screamed as he tried to run through the ink, heading right up the steps with Norman on his trail. He ran across the platform that made up the second floor of the maintenance room and spotted the switch. A sudden burst of fear-fueled energy got Henry’s legs moving fast enough for him to grab the switch and yank it down, just as Norman got about ten feet from him.

Then everything went dark.

The room was plunged into darkness at the flip of the switch, even the Projectionist’s light was gone. A few seconds passed before the lights slowly came back to life.

Henry found that he was all alone, he didn’t see or hear Norman anywhere. It made him nervous, but maybe he could get back to the haunted house without being seen?

Quietly, Henry went back down the stairs and headed for the entrance. So far, he was doing alright, until he got to the stairway that led him down to this area.

There was another horrible scream, and the light was back, hitting his back. Henry yelped, bolting right up the stairs, but Norman was so close! Could he get to the Little Miracle Station before the once-human grabbed him?! He threw open the door and slammed it behind him, gasping for air as he looked out the viewing slot.

Norman just stood there, seeming confused, tilting his head as he stepped towards the station, reaching a hand out…

Then Henry felt a horrible, sharp pain in his head, behind his eyes. His vision turned strange, red and gold, terrible distorted… oh god, no! Not this again! Not again! He couldn’t stand when this happened!

His hearing became muffled, but he could still tell that Norman screeched at thing when he suddenly turned towards the hall that led out of this area. Then Henry watched in shock as “Bendy” ran right up to the creature and socked him right in his metal head.

Henry watched with wide eyes as Norman shook off the pain and stumbled, before returning his own punch. Even with his fucked-up vision, Henry could still see the two ink creatures duking it out right in front of him, until “Bendy” grabbed Norman by his throat, lifting the other up off the ground.

This his vision returned, just in time for him to stare in horror as “Bendy”, his once sweet, adorable demon, tear Norman’s head right off!

“Bendy” stood there, holding the projector for a moment, before he angerly threw it right at the miracle station. Henry slammed back against the back of the box, gasping at the action. “Bendy” stood there for a moment, before he lowered himself enough for his face to come into view of Henry.

Before, in their previous encounter, Henry had only gotten a brief look at “Bendy” and had thought the other looked different. But now that he could see him without the grates of the vent in the way, “Bendy” looked so…

Horrifying.

His body was like that of a skeleton, soaked in thick ink, and his face looked so stressed, his drawn-on smile was twitching violently as ink seemed to float about him. He looked so different since Henry last saw him before the elevator dropped, hell, he didn’t even look like this in the nightmare!

The Ink Demon was a really fitting title for him now.

“Bendy” seemed to stare at him, growling lightly, before reaching down and grabbing Norman by the arm. He turned and started to walk away, dragging the body with him, never saying a word.

Henry sat in the box for a few, long moments, even after “Bendy’s” inky trails, which seemed so much thicker, had disappeared. He quietly sat there, staring out the hole before inhaling sharply. He pushed open the door and stepped out, looking at the inky mess on the ground, along with… well…

Norman’s head.

Carefully, Henry picked it up, looking at the device. It wasn’t damaged like it was when he had last seen the projectionist, there wasn’t even any indication that he had destroyed it a while ago. Maybe… this was someone else? H-hehehe… maybe? But no, that’s still terrible… another life, lost in this studio…

Henry bowed his head and placed the projector down gently. “I’m sorry…” He sighed softly, turning away to leave. He found a long, inky trail from where “Bendy” had dragged Norma away, ending at a turn into a wall. The vault door that had closed and locked behind Henry looked to have been torn right off its hinges, did… did “Bendy” just burst through the door in rage?

That made Henry feel uncomfortable. “Bendy” had the strength to break through a thick, iron vault door with ease, yet earlier, after he got to the safe room where he met Boris, Henry had heard “Bendy” just banging on a wooden door before walking away.

And same with when he was running around, doing errands. He had seen where “Bendy” had gripped the bars of the elevator and warped them, Boris had told him the demonic Toon had approached, but didn’t enter. And even in the Little Miracle Stations, how often did “Bendy” know he was hiding in those? He could have torn the doors off and did the human harm.

Every encounter with the Ink Demon just left Henry more and more confused of his plans, of what he wanted with him. The game “Bendy” had spoken of in his dream, was this part of it? Was he just playing with him?

He had to wonder now, if “Bendy” was a temporary ally to him, seeing as they shared a common enemy in “Alice”, and they both needed to free Boris, before it was too late.

With a shuddering breath, Henry stepped back into Bendy Hell and headed for the final switches. He had a wolf to save, he’d worry about the demon later.

END

**Author's Note:**

> I have two other stories based on chapter four I want to work on, but this one was screaming at me.
> 
> Why did “Bendy” kill Norman? I’m not sure why he did that in canon, but in this au, I’m working on a one-shot for that, it has to do with his new design for the updates, so you’ll see soon.
> 
> Sorry for the delay in updates for Pulling Strings, I was waiting for chapter four to give me more ideas. I was also working on my new fanfic, Ink Spots, which is an illustrated fanfic where Bendy and Henry team up to escape the studio.
> 
> Also school was keeping me occupied (but I officially graduated college on the fifth of May, so I am now done!)
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading! Please comment and review!


End file.
